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NBA Draft: Pick-by-pick analysis from Sam Smith

The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Chicago Bulls. All opinions expressed by Sam Smith are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Chicago Bulls or their Basketball Operations staff, parent company, partners, or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Bulls and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.

Once again, Sam Smith of Bulls.com will be blogging live as the 67th annual NBA Draft transpires. Smith will share his reaction on a pick-by-pick basis as the first 30 names are called. Chicago owns selections No. 20 and No. 49 tonight. It marks the sixth time in franchise history that the Bulls have held the 20th selection and the seventh time the team has owned the 49th pick. In six of the last 10 drafts, the Bulls have pulled the trigger on a draft night trade.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are on the clock with the first overall selection…

2) Orlando: Victor Oladipo – G – IndianaMagic fails to get next Shaq again. Good player, but tough to be noticed as a defender when your team is losing by 15 instead of 22.

3) Washington: Otto Porter Jr. – F – GeorgetownThe old saying is you never have enough Ottos in pro sports. Wiz now have perimeter with three top three picks. Good enough to make the playoffs?

4) Charlotte: Cody Zeller – C – IndianaWhat’s the chances Michael has seen him play as he’s not in the ACC? Actually, he should be OK and I recall Jordan once saying he’d never have a Nerlens on one of his teams.

5) Phoenix: Alex Len – C – MarylandWell, bye bye Marcin Gortat. Currently at the airport and putting Phoenix house up for sale. Is Len the next Michael Olowokandi? How do you have a top 5 center and not make the NCAA tournament?

6) New Orleans: Nerlens Noel – C – KentuckyTurns out New Orleans made the pick because the angular Noel looks the most like a pelican.

7) Sacramento: Ben McLemore – G – KansasDeMarcus Cousins already is believed to be upset with his bow tie and possibly facing a suspension. Many have felt he’s the top talent along with Bennett.

8) Detroit: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – G – GeorgiaHeard Dennis Rodman and Kim Jong Un had him in their combined mock for Rodman’s former team. Good shooter.

9) Minnesota: Trey Burke – G – MichiganNobody much thinks he’ll end up there with Ricky Rubio there. What, they couldn’t get Jonny Flynn with Rubio? Trey Burke, whom many scouts saw as the draft’s best point, goes to point deprived Jazz for Nos. 14 and 21. Timberwolves get those picks, but big move for Jazz.

11) Philadelphia: Michael Carter-Williams – G – Syracuse76ers starting over, which makes some sense with the Jrue Holiday deal for the rights to Noel after the Andrew Bynum disaster. Another team trying to get Andrew Wiggins in 2014.

12) Oklahoma City (from Toronto via Houston): Steven Adams – C – PittsburghCould this be the end of the Kendrick Perkins era in OKC? Nah, that happened already.

13) Dallas: Kelly Olynyk – C – GonzagaMavs supposed to be trading him to Boston, which is said to be huge relief to Olynyk as he thought he was getting picked by Mark Cuban’s Shark Tank TV show.

14) Utah: Shabazz Muhammad – F – UCLAGoing to Minnesota, where he should battle for disappointing moments with Derrick Williams

15) Milwaukee: Giannis Adetokunbo - F – GreeceThis is what they first thought what Lew Alcindor was going to change his name to when he was in Milwaukee. Does fit in the sense of developmental player for developmental team.

16) Boston: Lucas Nogueira – C – BrazilNogueira comes with hair styling tips from fellow tall man Joakim Noah. Perhaps they are too tall to see top of mirror. Going to Dallas or Atlanta via the rest of the world first.

17) Atlanta: Dennis Schroeder – G – GermanyThey don’t have many players under contract; of course, they also don’t have many fans. Maybe not Jeff Teague’s favorite pick, but they’re in flux, which often is cooler than Atlanta in summer.

19) Cleveland (from L.A. Lakers): Sergey Karasev – G – RussiaHe’s very accurate and supposedly headed back to Russia for his team, though perhaps he can find that Edward Snowden leaker while there

20) Chicago: Tony Snell – F – New MexicoTurns out the Bulls went for the shooter. Snell’s one of the better three-point shooters in the draft, described as like Hubert Davis or Wesley Person. The consensus seemed to be the Bulls would go for a big man as a backup center. But a big weakness is considered three point shooting. As a junior, probably more ready to play.

21) Utah (from Golden State via Brooklyn): Gorgui Dieng – C – LouisvilleSupposed to be going to Minnesota in Burke trade. Speculated previously headed for Chicago, so he can keep the winter coats he bought and now start building an igloo.

22) Brooklyn: Mason Plumlee – C – DukeJust in case Brook Lopez has any more screws replaced in his feet. Can’t wait to see KG screaming at another Duke guy for flopping

23) Indiana: Solomon Hill – F – ArizonaIn the Pacers attempt to climb to the top of the NBA mountain they’re adding another Hill. Not sure it exactly works that way, though.

24) New York: Tim Hardaway Jr. – G – MichiganTrouble for dad, who works for Miami. The notion is he is insurance if they don’t retain J.R. Smith, or Smith’s suspensions are above the Vegas 22 over/under.

25) L.A. Clippers: Reggie Bullock – G – North CarolinaShooting small forward to fill in eventually for Caron Butler and in a big plus yet to demand any of his coaches to be fired.

26) Minnesota (from Memphis via Houston): Andre Roberson – F – ColoradoDefensive oriented forward supposedly going to the Warriors to be the next Draymond Green. Still there? Another Draymond Green. What! Roberson to OKC? I still don’t know who he is.

28) San Antonio: Livio Jean-Charles – F – French GuianaWith Tony Parker and Boris Diaw also from France you want to party with those guys. They select a lot of foreign guys because then they don’t understand what Pop is yelling.

29) Oklahoma City: Archie Goodwin – G – KentuckyNot the guy from the comics, and don’t call him a jughead.

About Sam Smith

Smith covered the Bulls and the NBA for the Chicago Tribune for 25 years. He is the author of the best selling The Jordan Rules, which was top ten on the New York Times Bestseller List for three months. He is also the author of Second Coming: The Strange Odyssey of Michael Jordan and co-author of the Total Basketball Encyclopedia. Smith served as president of the Professional Basketball Writers Association for four terms, a feat no one else has accomplished. He has also served on committees for the NBA and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2012, Smith was honored by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame with its Curt Gowdy Media Award.